Ceiling fixture for fluorescent lamps



OGL 21 1952 E. F. GUTH 2,615,123

CEILrNG FIXTURE FOR FLuoREscENT LAMPS Filed oct. 25, 1947 's sham-sheetFlea. l 3

Oct. 21, 1952 E F GUTH CEILING FIXTURE FOR FLUORESCEINT LAMPS 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 001'.. 25, l947- Oct- 21, 1952 E. F. GUTH 2,615,123

CEILING FIXTURE FOR FLUQRESCENT LAMPS Filed oct. 25, 1947 s snet's-sheets Patented Oct. 21, 17952 UNITED STATES PATENT CFFICE CEILING FIXTUREFOR FLUORESCENT LAMlS 8 Claims. l

This invention relates to lighting fixtures, and more particularly toceiling xtures for elongate tubular lamps such as iiuorescent lamps.

Among the several objects of the invention may be noted the provision ofan improved ceiling xture for elongate tubular lamps, particularlyfluorescent lamps, adapted for servicing from the iioor level withoutnecessitating the use of a ladder or the like to reach the xture; theprovision of a ceiling xture of the class described which includes acounterbalanced lamp holder which may be easily raised or lowered, by aperson standing on the oor for removal and replacement of the elongatetubular lamps; the provision of a ceiling fixture of this class themovable portion of which is electrically disconnected when it is movedaway from the ceiling; the pro- Vision of an improved ceiling iixturefrom which the lamp holder may be conveniently and completely removed bya person standing on the iloor; the provision ofv a ceiling xture inwhich reflecting cross louvres may be conveniently and easily installedor removed; and the provision of a ceiling iixture of the classdescribed which simple and economical in construction and safe and easyto service. Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointedout hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the elements and combinations oielements, features of construction, and arrangements of parts which willbe exemplified in the structures hereinafter described, and the scope ofthe application of which Will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which several of various possibleembodiments of the invention are illustrated,

Fig. l is a side elevation of an improved light fixture of thisinvention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation illustrating the lamp holder in a partiallylowered position;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section'taken on line fi-li of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged isometric View illustrating a hinge bearing;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged section taken on line i-l of Fig. 4;

Fig. 8 is a View of a cross louvre and a reflector;

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 4, showing an alternative embodiment ofthe invention;

Fig. 10 is a section taken on line lli-li! of Fig. 9; and,

Fig. 11 is an enlarged section taken on line l l-l I of Fig. 9.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout theseveral views of the drawings.

Referring to Figs. L8, a light fixture of this invention is shown toinclude a support, forattachment toa ceiling in any suitable.way, intheform of an elongate open-bottomedhousing I. A lamp holder comprising anelongated reflector 3 is pivotally mounted at one end to one end of thehousing to be swingable in a vertical plane between a horizontal raisedposition closing the open bottom of the housing (Fig. l) and asubstantially vertical suspended position. Reiiector 3A carries twofluorescent lamps 5. The latterlextend parallel to the reflector.

Housing l includes a ceiling plate l comprising an elongate downwardlyYopening channel narrower andshallower thanv the housing extending thelength of the housing, top baffles Si, side baiiles Il and two endplates I3 and l5. The end plates are rmly affixed to members l', 9 and li by spot welding or a like process. Side baiiies i l preferably havenarrow channels Il extending upward :and outward from the lower edges.Reflector 3 comprises an elongate trough having V-shaped lower sidewalls 4, and parallel upper side walls 6. The reflector or trough 3 hasa width as measured from one side wall (iv to the other corresponding tothe width of the ceiling plate or channel 'l and a depth greater thanthe depth ofthe channel l, and is adapted to iit within the housing l.rThe upper edges of side walls E are bentl inwardly to form narrowreentry channels 8. The upper edges of side walls (i of reflector 3 areengageable with lthe under side of ceiling plate l, whichis so iormed soas to slidably receive reiector 3. An electrical ballast I9 forfluorescent lamps 5 is mounted in the reflector or trough 3, beingattached to an elongate pan 2i. This pan 2l is supported interiorly byreflector 3 and afxedthereto by means of screws 23.

Side Walls i have two hinge bearings 25 aiixed adjacent one end ofreflector 3. Thesev hinge bearings 25 (Fig. 6) comprise a tubularportion 2'! and a flat tab portion 29 bent so as to fold back at anacute angle over the tubular section. The tab portion of bearing 25 hasa circular aperture 3! coaxial with and of the same diameter as thepassage through tubular section 2l. These two hinge bearings 23 areaxed, such as by Welding to reilector 3 which has an aperture drilledtherethrough to match apertures 3l, to forma passage for a hinge pintle33. The outer ends of pintle 33 extend through oval shaped bearingapertures 35- in side bailles ll. The inner edges of channels ll preventany horizontal movement of pintle 33 when the fixture is assembled.

Fluorescent lamp sockets 3l, of any suitable conventional type, arefixed at the ends of each side wall 6 of the reflector or trough 3extending generally sideward on opposite sides of the trough. The pairof sockets at opposite ends of the side walls detachably support lamps 5with 3 the lamps extending longitudinally adjacent and parallel the sidewalls.

An electrical connector element 39 is mounted on pan 2| and is adaptedelectrically to contact a matching electrical connector element 4|mounted on ceiling plate 1 only when the lamp holder is in the raised,ceiling position. Connector 4| is affixed to the underside of ceilingplate 1 by means of a bracket 43. Connector 39 is preferably of the maletype while connector 4| is preferably of the female variety. The lampholder also carries two starter switches 45, mounted on side walls 6.Connector 39 and starter switches 45 are mounted on reflector 3 adjacentthe unpivoted end of the lamp holder.

The lamp holder or trough 3 is adapted to be latched in a raisedhorizontal ceiling position within the housing I wherein is is slidablyreceived at its top in channel 1 by a self-closing latch operable by anextension tool held by a person standing on the floor. As illustrated,the self-closing latch comprises a stud 49 extending rotatably throughpan 2| and reflector or trough 3 having a flat cam-shaped engagementcatch keyed to the upper portion of stud 49 and a control lever 53extending below reflector 3. An inverted U-shaped bracket 55 is mountedon pan 2| and has an aperture adapted to receive the upper end of stud43. Vertical movement of this stud is prevented by the use of a cotterpin 51 inserted through an aperture 59 in the upper end of stud 4Q abovethe top surface of bracket 55. Engagement catch 5| is spring biased to aclosed position by means of a spring 6|. Catch 5| is cooperable with anotched latch plate 63 aixed to and depending from ceiling plate 1. Thearrangement is such that stud 49 may be rotated from a latched positionwith its catch 5| in engagement with latch plate 63 to an unlatchedposition with catch 5| out of engagement with the notch in latch plate63 to release reector 3 to permit it to be swung downward. As catch 5|is biased to a closed position by spring 6| the latch assembly isself-closing because as the lamp holder is moved into the raised,ceiling position catch 5| is forced to an open position by contact withthe tapered leading edge of latch plate 63 until, in its uppermostposition catch 5| is free to engage the notch in latch plate 63. Thisaction provides a positive lock between housing and the lamp holder whenthe latter is in its raised ceiling position.

A spring reel unit |55 is aflixed to the underside of ceiling plate 1adjacent to the end containing connector 4| and latch plate 63. Theflexible connector or tape 61 of reel 65 is provided with a detachablefastening hook 59 which is engageable with a slot 1| in one of severalcross reflecting louvres 13 which are set in a vertical plane andmounted at right angles to the longitudinal axis of reflector 3. Hook 69is held in its receiving slot 1| by the tension of spring reel 65 butmay be easily removed manually.

Fig. 8 illustrates the mounting of light-shielding louvres 13 inreflector 3. The louvres have a diverging lower edge with a rectangularnotch in the center. The lower side walls of reflector 3 are providedwith vertically cut slots 15 adapted to receive these louvres. Theremoval and replacement of these louvres 13 will be discussed below.

In a typical installation of the above described light fixture, it isinstalled about ten feet above the floor. Housingreflector 3 and lamps 5are about 4 feet long. To lower the reflector and lamps to a servicingposition, an extension tool is employed to engage control lever 53 andthus to turn latch stud 49 from its closed position (catch 5| inengagement with the notch of latch plate 63) to unlatch the lamp holderfrom housing thus permitting it to be swung downward to its verticalsuspended position. The action of spring reel 65 and tape 61 act ascounterbalancing means to resist the downward movement of the lampholder so that there is no danger of free swinging of the lamp holder ifthe extension tool becomes disengaged from control lever 53. Tape 61 isso tensioned as to permit reflector 3 to be swung to any positionintermediate a raised, ceiling position and a lowered, servicingposition and thereafter retain such intermediate position. Such anintermediate position of reflector 3 is illustrated in Fig. 2.

In a position where the lamp holder is lowered to its extreme downwardor servicing position the lower ends of the lamps are easily within thereach of a person of average height standing on the floor. The lamps maythen be removed from sockets 31 for cleaning or replacement and thestarter switches may be replaced. If desired the entire lamp holderassembly may be removed for servicing. To do this reflector 3 is tiltedor raised thus lifting one or both ends of hinge pintle 33 to a positionwhere it will clear the edge of channel |1. Such a position of hingepintle 33 as shown in Fig. 5 in dotted lines. Reflector 3 is then movedto one side or the other so that one or both ends of pintle 33 willslide farther through oval aperture 35 to clear channel I1. One end ofpintle 33 is thus freed from baffle By reversing the movement ofreflector 3 along the then tilted axis of pintle 33, the end remainingin the other aperture 35 is thus removed and the pivoted end of the lampholder is free of housing To completely disengage reflector 3 fromhousing hook 59 is detached from slot 1|.

The removal of the entire lamp holder from housing renders possiblecomplete electrical and mechanical servicing of the components of thelight fixture without the use of a ladder. f desired connector 4| may beused as a service outlet to supply electrical power to any tools orequipment. For complete cleaning of the lamp holder pan 2| may beconveniently removed from the interior of reflector 3 by disengagingscrews 23. Louvres 13 may then be easily removed from reflector 3 bycompressing the upper edges of side walls 6 together and then raising alouvre 13 and sliding it out of slots 15 in side Walls 4 of reflector 3.Fig. 8 illustrates this action. To replace the reflecting louvres theupper edges of side walls G are again pressed together and the louvre isslid through slots 15 until the center notch of louvre 13 engages boththe bottom edges of both slots 15. When pan 2| is again mounted withinreilector 3, it causes the side walls 6 to 'become parallel and thuspositively and snugly locks louvres 13 in slots 15 of reflector 3.

The simplicity of replacing and cleaning the components of the lampholder without the use of a ladder makes such servicing possible by aperson unskilled and unequipped to do such operations normally. Theremoval of all electrical potentials from the lamp holder as soon asrenector 3 is moved from its raised, ceiling position 1s a valuablesafety feature protecting anyone servicing this light fixture.

The positive action of the latch arrangement and the biasing action ofspring reel 65 prevent accidental disengagement of the lamp holderassembly from housing The wide span of hinge pintle v33 provides asturdy yet easily removable `hinge assembly.

A second embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in Figs.9-11. As the majority of components used in this second embodiment areidentical with those utilized in the rst embodi- Vment described abovev(Figs. 1 8) they will not be further described.

Vriwo spring reel units 65 are utilized in the lembodiment of Figs. 9-11to support the lamp holder assembly. The use of this second spring reelobviates the use of the hinging arrangement described labove inconjunction with Figs. 1 8.` To more positively lock the reflector 3 toceiling plate 'i two self-closing latches are provided. However, insteadof a single stud 4S extending through pan 2i and reflector 3,\a singlecontrol stud 'H is centrally and rotatably mounted on a vertical axisthrough pan 2l and reflector 3. Stud y'Ill is provided with a controllever 19 at its lower extremity which projects under reector 3. Theupper end of stud 1l is keyed to a lever arm 3i which is' provided withapertures at its outer extremities. These apertures are adapted toreceive two links 33. One end of each link 83 is engaged in one'apertureof lever arm 8l, respectively, and the other end of each link 83 isengaged in an aperture in each of two lever arms 35. Lever arms 85 areeach mounted on a stud Ei'i, the upper ends of which are rotatablymounted in brackets S9 and the lower ends of which are rotatably mountedin pan 2 l. Two engagement catches 9i are keyed to the upper end of eachstud 8l and are engageable with latch plates 63. These catches 9| arespring biased to a closed position by springs 93.

Electr-ical ballast I3 is shown mounted on the underside of ceilingplate 'I in Figs. 9-11, but it is to be understood that it could also bemounted on pan 2l as is illustrated in Fig. 4. The principal reason forhaving electrical ballast I9 aixed to ceiling plate 'l is to decreasethe overall weight of the lamp holder. Electrical connectors 39 and iland bracket 33 have been moved off the center line of the pan to providespace for movement of links 33.

To lower reflector 3 of the Fig. 9-11 embod` ment, control lever l!) ismoved by means of an extension tool from its dotted line position (Fig.10) to its solid line position, thus simultaneousli7 disengaging catches9| from latch plates 63. The lamp holder assembly is then pulleddownward by means of the extension tool until reflector 3 is at anydesired level for servicing operations. The lamp holder can becompletely removed by detaching hooks 63 from slots 7| To reengage thelamp holder assembly with housing l, an extension tool is utilized topush the lamp holder upwards until catches 3l engage their respectivelatch plates 33. This action locks housing l to reflector 3 and connectselectrical connectors 39 and 4 l g It is to be understood that althoughthe embodiment as illustrated in Figs. 9-11 is particularly useful withrooms which have exceptionally high ceilings, such a light fixture maybe used conveniently and advantageously in low ceiling rooms.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of theinvention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As many changes could be made in the above constructions withoutdeparting from the scope 0f the invention, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in theaccompanyingdrawngs shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

I claim: n

l. A ceiling 1fixture for fluorescent lamps comprising an elongateYopen-bottomed housing for attachment to a ceiling, said housing havinga ceiling plate comprising an elongate downwardly opening channelnarrower and shallower than the housing extending the length of thehousing, an elongate trough having a width corresponding to the width ofthe channel and a depth greater than the depth of the channel adapted tofit within the housing, spring reel counterbalancing lmeans connectingthe trough to the housing and counterbalancing the weight of the troughand elements carried thereby, the trough having a raised horizontalceiling position within the housing wherein it is slidably received atits top in the channel and a lowered servicing position, lamp sockets onopposite sides of the trough at the ends thereof for holding elongatelamps eX- tending the length of the trough on opposite sides thereof, anelectrical connector element on the trough velectrically connected tothe sockets, a cooperating electrical connector element fixed within thehousing for engagement by theiirstmentioned connector element when thetrough is in its raised ceiling position, and a latch for latching thetrough in its raised ceiling position.

2. A ceiling fixture for iiuorescent lamps comprising an elongateopen-bottomed housing for attachment to a ceiling, said housing having aceiling plate comprising an elongate downwardly opening channel narrowerand shallower than the housing extending the length of the housing, anelongate trough having a width corresponding to the width of the channeland a depth greater than the depth of the channel pivotally connected atone end to one end of the housing for swinging movement about agenerally horizontal axis transverse to the trough and housing between araised horizontal ceiling position within the housing and a loweredservicing position hanging downward from the pivotal connection forservicing of the xture from floor level, said trough, in its raisedceiling position, being slidably received at its top in the ceilingplate channel, lamp sockets on opposite sides of the trough at the endsthereof for holding elongate lampsy extending the length of the troughon opposite sides thereof, and spring reel counterbalancing meansconnecting the trough to the housing and counterbalancing the weight ofthe trough and elements carried thereby.

3. A ceiling fixture as set forth in claim 2, wherein the trough carrieslight-shielding means under the lamps, said means being located in thebottom part of the housing when the trough is in its raised ceilingposition.

4. A ceiling fixture as set forth in claim 2, further comprising anelectrical connector element on the trough electrically connected to thesockets, a cooperating electrical connector element xed within thehousing for engagement by the first-mentioned connector trough is in itsraised ceiling position, and a latch for latching the trough in itsraised ceiling position.

5. A ceiling nxture as set forth in claim 2 wherein the pivotalconnection of the trough to the housing is a quick-detachable hingeconnection allowing for ready detachment of the trough from the housing.

6. A ceiling fixture as set forth in claim 5 wherein the hingeconnection comprises a pintle element when thev on the trough at one endthereof received at its ends in openings in the sides of the housing,andend stops for the pintle outward of thesides of the housing, the pintleopenings extending higher than the stops to permit raising of the endsof the pintle to clear the stops for end-wise shifting of the pintle todisengage it from the openings.

7. A ceiling fixture for fluorescent lamps comprising an elongateopen-bottomed housing for attachment to a ceiling, said housing havingside walls and end Walls and a ceiling plate narrower than the housingcomprising an elongate downwardly opening channel extending the lengthof the housing, an elongate trough of a width corresponding to the widthof the channel having a pivotal connection at one end at its bottom toone end of the housing at the bottom of the housing for swingingmovement about a generally horizontal axis transverse to the reiiectorand housing between a raised horizontal ceiling position within thehousing and a lowered servicing position hanging downward from thepivotal connection for servicing of the fixture from floor level, saidtrough, in its raised ceiling position, `being slidably received in theceiling plate channel, lamp sockets on opposite sides of the trough atthe ends thereof for holding elongate lamps extending the length of thetrough on opposite sides thereof, light-shielding means carried by thetrough under the lamps and spring 30 reel counter-balancing meansconnecting the trough-'to `the housing and counterbalancing the weightof the trough and elements carried by the trough.

8. A ceiling xture as set forth in claim 7 wherein there is anelectrical connector element carried by the trough within the trough anda cooperating electrical connector element fixed to the ceiling plate,said elements being engaged when the trough is in its raised ceilingposition, and wherein electrical ballast and starter switches arecarried within the trough, the connector element carried by the trough,theballast and starter switches being electrically connected.

EDWIN F. GUTH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,268,731 Van Bloem Jan. 6, 19422,299,276 Kirlin Oct. 20, 1942 2,319,572 Wilson May 18, 1943 2,336,599Dunbar Dec. 14, 1943 2,365,614 Winkler Dec. 19, 1944 2,431,656 BarkerNov. 25, 1947 2,439,885 Darley o Apr. 20, 1948 2,564,328 Farrington Aug.14, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 585,320 Great Britain Feb.4, 1947

